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| Fifth Column |
| The One is Going After the Leakers |
| 2012-01-24 |
| The Justice Department on Monday charged a former CIA officer with repeatedly leaking classified information, including the identities of agency operatives involved in the capture and interrogation of alleged terrorists. The case against John Kiriakou, who also served as a senior Senate aide, extends the Obama administration's crackdown on disclosures of national security secrets. Kiriakou, 47, is the sixth target of a leaks-related prosecution since President Obama took office, exceeding the total number of comparable prosecutions under all previous administrations combined, legal experts said. The Establishment must be in awe. I wonder why didn't Bush do it? Media cruxifiction? Kiriakou, who was among the first to go public with details about the CIA's use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation measures, was charged with disclosing classified information to reporters and lying to the agency about the origin of other sensitive material he published in a book. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. In its criminal filing, the Justice Department obscured many of the details of Kiriakou's alleged disclosures. But the document suggests that Kiriakou was a source for stories by the New York Times and other news organizations in 2008 and 2009 about some of the agency's most sensitive operations after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. These include the capture of alleged al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaida and the interrogation of the self-proclaimed mastermind of the attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed. Oh, so he was leaking stuff on Zero's watch. The nerve! The Justice Department said that the information Kiriakou supplied to journalists also contributed to a subsequent security breach at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, enabling defense attorneys there to obtain photographs of CIA operatives suspected of being involved in harsh interrogations. Some of the pictures were subsequently discovered in the cells of high-value detainees. So the full extent of the damage is not yet known? In an appearance in U.S. District Court in Alexandria on Monday afternoon, Magistrate Judge John F. Anderson set bond at $250,000 for Kiriakou, who was also forced to surrender his passport and restrict his travel to the Washington area. The surge in such prosecutions is seen as a measure of the Obama administration's determination to root out leaks, but it may also reflect the government's expanded ability to mine suspects' e-mail accounts and other digital devices for incriminating evidence. The complaint filed Monday includes numerous passages apparently taken from Kiriakou's e-mail exchanges with reporters as well as former CIA colleagues. Critics warn that the crackdown will erode the ability of news organizations to expose Oh, that's ironic. Except it's not - Obumble is going after those who embarrassed him. "The Justice Department has initiated no prosecutions concerning extreme interrogation methods," Aftergood said. "But it is now prosecuting an individual who helped bring such events to public light. Is that what we want?" 'Fraid so, Steven. CIA Director David H. Petraeus issued a statement to the agency's workforce on Monday in which he said that he could not comment on the details of the case against Kiriakou but warned that "the illegal passage of secrets is an abuse of trust that may put lives in jeopardy." The Washington Post quoted Kiriaku several times between 2007 and 2009 but Monday's charges make no reference to Post articles. Pre-emptive defense. Investigators believe that defense attorneys obtained the photos after learning the identities of CIA operatives from a journalist who had been in contact with Kiriakou. The photographs, which included shots taken surreptitiously outside CIA employees' homes, were shown to the detainees as part of an effort by defense attorneys to identify participants in CIA interrogations and potentially call them as witnesses in terrorism trials. Maybe the journalist was the one who leaked the identities. Maybe Kiriakou will roll on the newshound. The Guantanamo defense teams, which included attorneys from the ACLU, have been cleared of any wrongdoing in obtaining or sharing the photos, according to the Justice Department complaint. Somehow, that does not surprise me. So that leaves the journalist. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #8 ...you know that if the candidates arrive at the convention and no one has the votes for a first round nomination, it's up to the delegates. It's not like drafting a general hasn't happened before. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-01-24 22:45 |
| #7 Will the Republicans draft Petraeus for President? |
| Posted by: Tamir Pardo 2012-01-24 19:50 |
| #5 Senator Kerry's (D-Lurch) investigative aide on Senate Foreign Relations Committee. surprised? *spit* |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-01-24 15:23 |
| #4 After all of the good intel sources we lost due to leaks to the NYT from sources that had to be in the CIA, I was wondering when a DCI would step up and start putting the screws to these clowns that ruined some excellent intel operations. Of course, I am also waiting for someone to decide that PUBLISHING known secrets is culpible and decide to go after the NYT and the WaPo I might wait till hell freezes over. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2012-01-24 11:53 |
| #3 ManWorld? Definition, please. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2012-01-24 10:23 |
| #2 Petraus lives in ManWorld. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2012-01-24 10:00 |
| #1 This is called a Justice Department operation, but is it driven by forces inside the new Petraus CIA? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2012-01-24 08:01 |